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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189103">Monday</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierraraeck/pseuds/sierraraeck'>sierraraeck</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aundreya Chambers [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner - Freeform, Angst, Aundreya Chambers, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Criminal Minds Family, David Rossi - Freeform, Derek Morgan - Freeform, Derek Morgan Angst, Derek Morgan Fluff, Emily Prentiss - Freeform, FBI, Fluff, Gen, Original Female Character - Freeform, POV Original Female Character, Penelope Garcia - Freeform, Slow Burn, Spencer Reid - Freeform, Spencer Reid Angst, Spencer Reid Fluff, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds), bau, jennifer jareau - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:25:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,478</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189103</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierraraeck/pseuds/sierraraeck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Series Summary: This is a series following Aundreya Chambers and her experience with the BAU, Spencer, and trying to navigate the FBI as a high-profile criminal. And things get very messy.</p><p>Chapter Summary: Coming back to the BAU is a struggle for Aundreya, but a couple conversations with her teammates seems to make things a little bit better. Story twenty-one.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The BAU Team/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aundreya Chambers [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130924</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Monday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I had not been reinstated. Yet. But I couldn’t blame them for it. I mean, I did take the fall for two murders, go to prison, get out of prison, take a bullet, become a fugitive, murder another, make a deal with a criminal (that luckily no one knew abou), and then asked for my job back. It was reasonable that they were hesitant. However, if I wanted to save their lives, I was going to have to find some way back into the Bureau. Which meant leaving the ring, <em> again </em>.</p><p>“You cannot be serious!” Mateo yelled.</p><p>“I have no other choice!” I responded. “I made a deal with DeLeon. This is how it has to be until I can finish this, and come back!”</p><p>“Who’s to say you’ll come back? You didn’t last time!” </p><p>He was right, of course. I only came back because I had nowhere else to turn. “Mateo-”</p><p>“Don’t start that with me. I thought I finally had you back, we all did, and you’re just going to leave again?” He was tugging at his hair and turning away from me. I came up from behind him and wrapped my arms around his strong middle. His posture was tense, but he let me do it.</p><p>“If it was up to me, I’d stay here with you. But I am not going to let DeLeon take everything from me. Including you,” I whispered.</p><p>“I just don’t want to lose you again,” Mateo confessed, his voice lowering as well.</p><p>I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I will check in with you when I can, but we all need to be careful right now. DeLeon always has other plans, and I will not let him get more than what we agreed upon.”</p><p>“We’ve got people looking for him, you know,” Mateo reminded me.</p><p>“I know. So does the FBI. Hopefully we can catch and kill him before he causes more chaos, but if not, you have to let me go through with this.”</p><p>“Fine. But make it quick because I’m going to miss you,” he said, a cheeky look on his face as he turned around to face me. He had one strong hand on my back and the other cupping my face. He pulled me in for a kiss, then leaned back on the disaster of a bed we’d just come from, pulling me with him.</p><p>“Mateo-” I sang.</p><p>“You have a little bit longer, don’t you?” he asked, grinning at me with those big doe eyes. How could I say no?</p><p>“Maybe just a few…” I trailed off. That was all he needed to hear.</p><hr/><p>I marched into the FBI headquarters, bee-lining it directly to Section Chief Strauss’ office. I adjusted my clothes and smoothed out any wrinkles in my shirt one last time before knocking and pushing open the door. </p><p>“Ms. Chambers,” Strauss greeted.</p><p>“Chief Strauss,” I followed suit. She motioned for me to sit down.</p><p>“I’ve been expecting you,” she stated cooly, “I knew it was only a matter of time before you made your way back here.”</p><p>“I did call,” I pointed out.</p><p>“Yes, and I told you no,” she retorted.</p><p>I smiled, “Then you know why I’m here.”</p><p>“And the answer’s still no.”</p><p>“That’s just not going to do it for me, Chief.” My eyes bore into hers as I continued, “I was wrongfully sent to prison, and then I helped out a federal case, two if you really think about it, and-”</p><p>“What about ‘no’ do you not understand?” Strauss leaned back in her chair, clasping her hands in front of her.</p><p>“I would argue that I was more of a risk the first time you hired me, but you still did it then. What’s preventing you from doing it now?” I raised my eyebrows.</p><p>“You confessed to murder.”</p><p>“I was charged with murder the first time.” I was hopeful that if I challenged her first decision, she’d be inclined to defend herself, therefore having to make the same decision twice.</p><p>“You put agents’ lives at risk.”</p><p>“I took a bullet for a civilian, and went into hiding in order to protect them.”</p><p>“You got our best tech analyst, Penelope Garcia, shot,” Strauss reminded. I didn’t have anything to say to that. </p><p>I landed on, “I have been a loyal agent with the FBI for three years. Yes, I’ve been out for a while, but I am coming back for a reason. This is no different than the first time you hired me-”</p><p>She cut me off again, “Then I guess we shouldn’t have hired you the first time. Now get out of my office.”</p><p>I ran my tongue over my lips as I stood up and took a couple steps toward her office door. But I couldn’t leave. Lives depended on my ability to get my job back, so I had to keep trying. The diplomatic way didn’t work, so it was time for a different approach.</p><p>I walked back over to her desk and stood in front of her, “During the three years I was here, I helped close more high profile cases than ever before, some that weren’t even BAU cases. I understand that you have reservations about my abilities, but I was able to do that <em> because </em>of my skills and my connections. If I wanted to screw over the FBI, I would have done it by now, I have the resources. But I haven’t. Instead, my network of people and the BAU team all worked cohesively to help find me, so if they can do it, so can I, especially because I’ve actually worked with all of those people before. “</p><p>“Chambers, nothing you say-”</p><p>“All do respect, Chief Strauss, but I’m not finished,” I interrupted. “When I went to prison, you gave up on me entirely. Sure, Doctor Reid had been a part of the team longer than I had, but I was just as much a team member as he was. And I know for a fact, you allowed, no <em> encouraged </em> , the team to continue working to figure out the truth when it was him, but didn’t return the favor when it was me. You did nothing. More than that, you <em> ordered </em> them to let it go. Come to find out, I was just as much of a victim in that situation as any. I’m not saying I had a good reputation prior to that, but any semblance of trust the Bureau had in me was gone. I was on my own to get out, and continue fighting some of the most dangerous people this country has ever seen, by the end having to recover from more than ten injuries. So after taking away my reputation, my freedom, and nearly my life, the least you could do would be to reinstate me.”</p><p>Strauss just stared at me, then took a deep breath, “Fine. I’ll reinstate you. But not to the BAU.”</p><p>“I don’t accept that. I would like my <em> exact </em>job back,” I demanded. She opened her mouth to say something, but I kept talking, “And don’t worry about my behavior or ability to work with them in a cohesive manner. I don’t have a problem with them as long as they don’t have a problem with me.”</p><p>“But aren’t you..?” Strauss trailed off. </p><p>It wasn’t like her, but I knew exactly what she was getting at, and I wasn’t going to make it easy. I wanted to hear her say it. “What? What do you think I am?”</p><p>“Angry,” Strauss offered. “You have a history of getting angry and violently overreacting.”</p><p>“I was for a while,” I shrugged, “but I’m tired of being angry. It’s exhausting, wasting so much energy on being angry with each individual member. I had 22 months to be angry with them, most of which were spent in prison or on the run and I’m over it. I just want my job back.”</p><p>She sighed in defeat, “Fine. We’ll look into you getting back your-”</p><p>“I’d like to start Monday,” I said, leaning down and placing my fingertips on her desk. I flashed her a smile, but I’m sure she could tell it wasn’t exactly friendly. </p><p>“We’ll see you then, Agent Chambers.” I leaned back from her desk and walked out of her office without another word. It was Friday, so I still had the weekend, but I wanted to make one last stop on my way out.</p><p>I shoved open the door to the bat cave to see the exact site I knew would be waiting for me. The entire team, excluding Aaron, gathered around Penelope’s computer.</p><p>“I hope you enjoyed the show,” I deadpanned. They’d been watching me for nearly the entirety of the two years I’d been gone, surveilling me in prison, in the hospital, and when I was with DeLeon. I knew they’d still be watching me today.</p><p>They were frozen in their spots, and I had to wonder why they even came for me that day. It would have been so easy for them to ignore the feed and forget about me. </p><p>“Chambers, it’s not how it looks,” Morgan tried.</p><p>“I’m sure it’s not,” I squinted at him, and clicked my tongue. “I’m sure you weren’t so nervous about me coming back that you asked Garcia to run facial recognition on everyone who entered the BAU floor, and I’m sure you weren’t scared enough, for yourselves and Strauss, to set up a camera with audio in her office.”</p><p>“It’s not like we don’t trust you,” Prentiss piped in.</p><p>“It’s not like you do,” I incredulously quipped, “Or do you track every move of <em> all </em> the people you trust?” They just stood there staring at me, like I was a ticking time bomb. And maybe I was, but I decided to fill the silence, “I guess it doesn’t matter now, though. I’ll see you Monday?”</p><p>I got no response as I left the doorway and walked down the hall toward the elevator. Just before I got in, I turned to the security camera and winked. </p><hr/><p>It was the worst sort of deja vu, walking into the BAU headquarters on my ‘first day.’ I’d done this a total of three times: the first time I met them, when they pulled me out of prison to find Maeve, and now. I was tired of wondering, and then knowing, how the team was going to react to me. The first time, I tried to lie, which didn’t work out. The second time, I gave them exactly what they were expecting of me, a bitter and twisted version, which also didn’t work out. So this third time, I figured I’d give them the opposite of what they’d expect. <em> Third time’s the charm, right? </em></p><p>But, it was a lot easier said than done. Pretending like I was cool headed and only here to do the job and get out was going to be hard, especially when I still did have so much anger. But I wasn’t lying when I told Strauss I was exhausted. Sure, the team had helped find me, but what else had they done? Given up on me, accused me, and still didn’t trust me? All of those thoughts were rattling in my head, and I ended up with a twisted mix of emotions, the two strongest being anger and a general sense of caring. How can you be so angry with someone, enough to want to turn your back on them, and also care about them so much that you make a deal with a criminal, your life on the line, in order to save them?</p><p>Now was not the time to think about that, because I was about to walk through those doors and return to the job I once had. The job that took me so long to earn, and so little to lose. I walked into the round table room where everyone was already waiting. <em> Seriously, the </em> <strong><em>worst</em> </strong> <em> deja vu. </em></p><p>Skipping the awkward greetings, I just asked, “What’d I miss?”</p><p>“You’re actually right on time,” Hotch assured. With that, Garcia launched into her briefing. It took all of my willpower not to add more than one thing to the conversation. I let them take the lead while I sat back and watched. </p><p>Hotch told us that we’d be leaving in 30, so everyone grabbed their bags and headed to the jet. I waited for the group of them to go ahead, and then planned to make the trip by myself. I was about to succeed in that plan, until Rossi slipped into the elevator with me. I didn’t even look over at him. </p><p>“You’re welcome, by the way,” he said. I turned to him, brows furrowed. “For letting you crash at my place.”</p><p>I blew a small laugh out of my nose, “I knew I got the red and gold pillows mixed up.” He smiled and left it at that, which I was grateful for. </p><p>We boarded the jet together, and headed out across the country to catch another killer.</p><p>Halfway into the week, on our way back to the hotel, Morgan hung back from the group, which he never did, so I knew something was up. Glances were passed between Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan, so I knew that they had some idea what this was about, and I fought the urge to just run out of the precinct. </p><p>“I’ll walk you out?” Derek invited as he approached me.</p><p>“If you really want to end up in a parking lot alone with me again,” I joked, gesturing toward his face which once dawned a black eye courtesy of me. He smirked and nodded his head toward the door. </p><p>“You <em> are </em>a really strong fighter,” he commented. I rolled my eyes at him, but he stopped in his tracks to face me. “I mean it, Aundreya. In more ways than one.”</p><p>Something in his undertone led me to believe we weren’t talking about the same thing, and I didn’t know whether to say thank you and walk or to stay to see what else he had to say. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked, “What are you saying?”</p><p>“Walk with me,” was all he offered. We were in a super small town near a desert, and he started heading out into the open sand, the exact opposite direction of our hotel. I stopped and he turned around to look at me. “What? Gang girl afraid of a little sand?”</p><p>I trekked toward him, “If you ever call me that again, you should be afraid of a lot more than just sand.”</p><p>We, dare I say hiked, out into the desert at nearly nine at night, with more moonlight than sunlight. I don’t know how he decided where to stop, but after about ten minutes of walking, he just sat down. </p><p>“Okay, what the actual hell, Derek?” I asked, standing in front of him.</p><p>“Just sit down, okay?” I did as he said, and took a seat in the cooling sand next to him. Whatever he was about to say, this had to’ve been the oddest place for him to pick. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but when I was young, I used to go to this community center in my neighborhood. There was a man there who was in charge of the place, and for most of my childhood he…” he trailed off.</p><p>I could see it in his eyes and the way he swallowed while looking down, and I immediately recognized what it was. The shame carried by a victim. I sternly whispered, “Who?”</p><p>Derek looked at me, “Carl Buford.” I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as I stood up, storming away. “What are you doing?”</p><p>“I can find anyone,” I called back. <em> There’s not much I can do for him or for anyone else on the team right now, but this I can do. I can find that pathetic, sleezy, son of a- </em></p><p>“You won’t!” Derek yelled. I spun around to face him, realizing I’d traveled a healthy 50 feet from him. “He’s in prison!”</p><p>I sighed, crossing my arms, and marched back over to where he sat. When I was standing at his feet, Derek was looking up at me with curiosity. “You know, I’ve got people in prison, and with one phone call, I could have them-”</p><p>“Sit down, would you?” Derek cut me off. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, trying to pull myself back together.</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t be,” he cut me off.</p><p>My eyes locked on his. “I respect your strength for sharing this and being able to deal with the same type of people day in and day out.”</p><p>“Thanks,” he clenched his jaw, then continued, “One day, after nearly two decades, I finally got to put him away.” He put his hand on my shoulder, so I looked over at him. “Don’t give up hope, Aundreya. We will catch that son of bitch and bring him to justice, and if there’s anyone I know who can do that, it’s you.”</p><p>“Thank you, Derek,” I said, offering a small smile, “It means a lot.”</p><p>I moved to get up and walk away again, but Derek held me to my spot. A bit of a playful tone entered his voice when he asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”</p><p>“Uh, back to the hotel? It’s like four degrees out here.”</p><p>“It’s not that bad. Plus, it’s not like you’ll be sleeping,” he pointed out.</p><p>“That obvious, huh?” I asked. He tilted his head to the side as if to say that was the dumbest question I could’ve asked.</p><p>“After everything you’ve been through,” he shook his head, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you never slept again. Not like I ever thought you did to begin with. I mean, when Reid was in prison, did you sleep at all?”</p><p>“Not really. I usually don’t,” I shrugged.</p><p>We let the silence hang around us for a while before he laid back on the sand. “You know, when I couldn’t sleep, I used to just go outside and look up at the stars.”</p><p>I laid back with him, “Seriously?”</p><p>“Yeah, seriously. Something about it was comforting, you know? Knowing that there was so much more out there than just my neighborhood and the people I knew.” I understood that. Knowing that one day, you might be able to move on to bigger and better things than what you were going through, it was comforting. “How are you, really?”</p><p>“You just said it yourself, sleep deprived,” I only half-joked.</p><p>“You’re a lot more…” he struggled to find the right word, “Calm? Than I’d expect? I mean, yeah, sure, you’re a bit different, more on-edge and pissed off at us which I get, but overall you don’t seem that affected.”</p><p>“Yeah I should hope not. It’s not like that was my first time in a prison and first time facing off against DeLeon. I can handle it pretty well by now, I’d honestly be more nervous <em> had </em>I been more affected.” </p><p>“That makes sense, but don’t discount whatever is giving you nightmares right now. Even if you’ve gone through it a hundred times, it will still haunt you, even if it’s just a little bit. Just make sure you’re managing that, and talking to people if you need to.”</p><p>I scoffed, “Yeah, I’ll make sure to talk to the team that has lost all hope in me.” I didn’t mean for it to sound that harsh, but I could see Derek flinch just slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it. “I get it, though. I told a lot of lies, I wrecked a lot of things, and I’m sure you asked yourselves who was really to blame for all of this. Did Xena really deserve that? Was DeLeon really the bad guy, or just another poor soul with the misfortune of getting caught up in the Chambers tornado? Hell, I even wonder why you guys came for me sometimes.”</p><p>“Hey,” Derek jumped in very quickly, “Don’t ever doubt that. I know things are in a bad place, a lot of broken trust to go around, but don’t ever think that we’d just let you die. You still mean something to us. Some more than others.”</p><p>I knew who he was talking about and I wanted to laugh in his face. “Yeah, I’m sure I still mean <em> a ton </em> to the guy that doesn’t even want to be caught looking at me.”</p><p>“You do. You know, he spent every free moment he had trying to figure out what was up with you. He lost so much sleep over it that Hotch had to order him to drop it and take vacation time so he could rejuvenate.” My mouth fell agape, and my eyes went wide. “And before you ask, I’m dead serious.”</p><p>“How does Maeve feel about that, then? Especially now that I’m back?” I wondered.</p><p>“She’s supportive of him, of course,” <em> of course </em>, “but it isn’t paradise. We were all worried how it would be for them once they actually could see and spend time with each other. To me, it seems like all they have to connect on is their shared intellect.”</p><p>I opened and shut my mouth a couple times, trying to come with the right question. All I could land on was, “What do you think that means?”</p><p>“I think it means that things were great when all they had to talk about was genius stuff, but now that they’re together, there’s very little else going on, like no emotional or physical connection.”</p><p>I took this all in, and Derek let me, but then he asked, “But what about that Mateo character?”</p><p>I smiled a little, “What about him?” He raised his eyebrows at me. “He’s good. He and I had a thing before I joined the FBI, and we picked up right where we left off when I got back.”</p><p>“So…” Derek prompted.</p><p>“So things are good,” I bit my bottom lip and looked over at Derek. </p><p>He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I met him, Aundreya. I looked that six foot four figure <em> all </em> the way up and down, and you’re telling me things are just <em> good </em>?”</p><p>I chuckled, “If you must know, the sex is amazing.” He laughed right along with me, but I finished with, “But we’re different people than we used to be. Yeah, we still have a really good relationship outside of the bedroom, but it’s just…”</p><p>“Different?” Derek helped. I nodded.</p><p>Derek contemplated this for a moment and then followed with, “Why’d you come back?”</p><p>“I had to,” I answered, but I needed something more to convince him, “My ring is amazing, and I can still stay in contact with them from here, but I don’t really feel like I fit anywhere anymore. I don’t know, I guess I just thought that this was the one place where I knew <em> for sure </em> I was doing good, saving lives, and fighting people who deserved to be locked up. I guess I’m just searching for that feeling again.” It was meant to be a quick lie so that he’d believe my motives for coming back, but after I said it, I realized it wasn’t a lie at all.</p><p>He nodded, and then we spent the next half hour or so in silence, just staring at the stars out in the middle of the desert. Eventually, we packed up and headed back to the hotel, knowing that we still had a lot of work to do in the coming days.</p><hr/><p>We closed the case within the next two days, and were scheduled to leave the next morning. We packed up our things and headed back to the hotel. Overall, the team was being civil with me. We came in, did our work, and then went our separate ways. I was okay with that. I had to be.</p><p>I crashed on the hotel bed the moment I shut the door behind me. No one was rooming with me, another thing I didn’t mind, and was about to change out of my clothes when I heard a knock at the door. I assumed it was either Hotch or Morgan, but when I opened it, it was a completely different mop of hair standing in front of me.  </p><p>“Can I come in?” Spencer asked. I opened the door wider and stepped to the side, allowing him to brush by me. I shut the door and leaned my back against it, waiting for him to speak. He was standing fairly far away from me when he started, “I owe you an apology.” I just stared at him, so he took a deep breath and continued, “I’ve haven’t been treating you fairly. A lot has happened recently, and instead of talking to you, I just avoided you, which was wrong of me. I know it’s going to take a lot for us to trust each other again, but you’ve already done so much for me, despite how awful I’ve been to you, and I need you to know that I appreciate you. Everything you’ve done for me, for Maeve, and for the rest of the team. I-”</p><p>“How is she, by the way?” I interjected. I don’t know what possessed me to ask, because I didn’t actually want to know, but after what I heard from Derek, I was interested in his answer.</p><p>“Oh, uh, she’s good,” he rushed. “How’s Mateo?”</p><p>I knew that was coming the moment I asked about Maeve, but I also wasn’t going to give him an in depth answer, “Good as well.”</p><p>We stood there awkwardly for a moment before Spencer cleared his throat, “Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you, I’m sorry, and I hope that we can try to just … work together like we used to?”</p><p>“Sure,” I nodded, “That would be good.”</p><p>He smiled and whispered a little ‘okay’ to himself, and then approached the door. I was still leaning against it, and I let him get all the way near me before I moved to the side. <em> So he’s still willing to stand in close proximity to me. I wonder… </em> </p><p>Right as he reached for the door handle, I did too, making sure our hands touched. He didn’t pull away, he didn’t even flinch, and we opened the door together. </p><p>We locked eyes for a second longer than we normally would have, maybe longer than we <em> should </em> have, but then I stepped back and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”</p><p>“Yeah, yes,” he stumbled on his words a little, “I’ll see you then.”</p><p>I smiled and he returned it, then we went to our respective rooms, wondering exactly what that all meant.</p>
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